The company at the centre of the largest meat recall in Canadian history has said it has fixed all the problems that caused several cases of E. coli.

But questions about the facility’s issues continued to go unanswered Tuesday as Brian Nilsson and his brother Lee Nilsson, the CEOs of XL Foods in Edmonton, continued to refuse to speak to media.

XL Foods and its executives have not responded to multiple requests for comment, both at their places of work and their homes. Instead, they are relying on press releases and a phone line to relay information.

On Tuesday, the company issued another statement claiming to have finished doing what the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered it to do during the in-depth investigation that prompted the recall.

XL Foods said those steps included detailed documentation, a better way to analyze trends, better record keeping, improved oversight on procedures and equipment maintenance and better ways to sample products for bacteria.

“These efforts, in addition to the intensified and enhanced food safety protocols will improve the process of our contamination prevention program,” XL Foods said in the statement. “All the members of the XL community deeply regret the illnesses caused by the consumption of beef products. Our thoughts are with the affected people at this time.”

Tim O’Connor, a spokesman for the food inspection agency, said the assessment of the plant is ongoing.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says there are now 11 confirmed cases of people getting sick from the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 linked to the Alberta slaughterhouse.

E. coli was first detected at the Alberta plant on Sept. 4, but it took 12 days for the first of numerous public alerts to be issued and all production was suspended at facility on Sept. 24.

More than 1,800 beef products have been recalled following the discovery.

The CFIA has suggested that XL Foods being too slow to hand over key information led to a delay in the investigation.

Jim Laws, executive director of the Canadian Meat Council, described the Alberta facility as a “big player” in the industry, especially since the number of slaughterhouses has decreased in recent years.

“We don’t collect data here in terms of competitive issues surrounding the industry, but they are a big player. They are one of the two largest beef slaughter facilities in the country. So, it’s very important to have them in Canada,” Laws said Tuesday.

Nilsson Bros. Inc. bought the beef processing operation from XL Foods Ltd. of Calgary for $24 million back in 1998.

According to the Edmonton Journal, Nilsson Bros. Inc. is a family business that goes back to Brian and Lee Nilsson’s great-grandfather, who was a livestock dealer in Sweden.

In Canada, their grandfather started buying and selling livestock in the Barrhead-Westlock region in 1932. The brothers bought the business from their father in 1987.

XL now has a large network of businesses that includes other auction marts, ranches and feedlots.

The CFIA has shared details of the problems it found at the Brooks, Alta., facility, including leaky pipes, clogged water nozzles, a smelly drain, “insufficient record keeping” and no process for handling what happens when bacteria are found on products that have already been shipped to clients.

There is no set date for the Brooks processing plant to reopen.

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